The Maple Leafs continue to collect points, even if they’re not coming in the form of regulation victories. Whether that’s concerning is a story for another time, but for now, the Leafs won yet again in extra time.
Your game in 10:
1. It was a good start to this game for the Leafs. The top line with William Nylander on it took the opening faceoff and got the puck in deep, TJ Brodie pinched down the wall, and Matthew Knies and Auston Matthews converged on the play, leading to a won battle and a Nylander one-timer in the high slot. The shot was blocked, but it tilted the ice and set the tone.
On the next shift after John Tavares won the offensive-zone draw, Mitch Marner curled in but saw his shot blocked. All four lines touched the ice in succession, the Leafs showed some real jump, and they were dictating play.
Even when Jake McCabe took a bit of a reckless tripping penalty in the neutral zone, the penalty kill snuffed out the first minute of it easily, although they did get into some trouble in the second half after a few failed clears, with Joseph Woll battling one shot from the point that almost trickled through him.
Back at five-on-five, it took a few shifts, but the Leafs went back to spending more time in the offensive zone, leading to the top line drawing a penalty.
2. The Leafs‘ power play came into this game zero for its last 12 having not scored since the Sweden trip. Mitch Marner entered the game on an eight-game goalless drought. Both of those slumps were snapped in the first period.
The Leafs‘ top power-play unit played with a real purpose evident from the second they won the draw. They snapped the puck around, won battles, and created all kinds of dangerous looks.
The goal resulted from Marner and John Tavares winning a battle behind the net. Notably, it was a 2v2 battle, so after the Leafs won it and Tavares passed it up to Auston Matthews, Toronto had a real numbers advantage. Matthews moved it to William Nylander all alone up top, where he sold the shot before sliding it to Marner, who scored on an empty net.
A beautiful goal and start to the game from the Leafs.
Auston Matthews registered his 564th career point (313 goals, 251 assists) with an assist on Mitch Marner’s first period goal, moving him past Bob Pulford for sole possession of ninth place on the @MapleLeafs all-time points list.
— Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) December 1, 2023
3. Neither team scored for the rest of the period, but the 1-0 score flattered Seattle. Shots were 15-6 for the Leafs and overall attempts were 26-13. Auston Matthews hit the post to end the period. William Nylander took a pass put right on his tape for a mini breakaway and didn’t score. Matthew Knies set up Nylander off the rush, and he walked in with space but was denied. John Tavares spun a shot from his knees in the slot before Tyler Bertuzzi just missed the rebound.
The Leafs created chances galore, and the only real blemishes were not scoring more and a careless tripping penalty by Calle Jarnkrok while on the power play. It can be a bit of a dangerous spot when a team dominates a period to the degree the Leafs did but only have a 1-0 lead to show for it.
4. On that front, the good news for the Leafs is that they were still on a power play to start the second period. They cashed in.
With limited time left on the man advantage, the Leafs started the period with Morgan Rielly and Conor Timmins on the point for the power play along with Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and Mitch Marner up front. As is usually the case with Marner, once he breaks a slump, he usually heats up. In this case, he scored his second goal of the night in short order.
After taking a simple pass from Matthews, Marner simply wound up and one-timed the puck, but the fact that he showed the confidence to even attempt it was notable. The momentum of his earlier goal probably played a role.
This one was a tad lucky as it deflected off Adam Larsson and in, but as they say, that’s why you shoot the puck.
5. It felt like the Leafs could take control of this game and make it a snoozer, but Seattle made a push and hemmed in the Leafs’ third line along with the defense pairing of William Lagesson and Simon Benoit. They got worked for over a minute as the Kraken cycled and the Leafs couldn’t stop it, eventually leading to a penalty.
The Kraken capitalized this time. Between the extended five-on-five shift and the penalty kill, the Leafs went over two full minutes barely touching the puck or halting the Seattle cycle. Eventually, the puck worked its way to Jared McCann on a pass mere inches away from Jake McCabe’s stick. McCann walked in with a little space available and ripped it short side high.
It was a high-end goal scorer with a good look at the net. There was not much blame to lay at the feet of Joseph Woll on this one.
6. The long Kraken cycling shift that led to a penalty and goal seemed to switch on a lightbulb for Seattle, who started cycling the Leafs to death. Shot attempts at five-on-five in the second period were 25-7 in favour of the Kraken.
The Leafs were more than fine offensively once they got the puck back, but they hardly possessed it. With such a green defense dressed for Toronto, it looked like they were actively looking to retreat and play zone. When the Seattle forwards possessed the puck along the walls, the Leaf defenders were hardly pressuring them. At times, the Kraken turned with the puck and no Toronto player was even a stick length away.
The all-situations attempts were 39-10 in favour of Seattle. Joseph Woll wasn’t asked to make a ton of big saves — Seattle lacks scoring talent — but it was a big workload in the period and he stood tall.
7. Of course, the Leafs do have scoring talent on their side. As we mentioned earlier, once things turn the corner for Mitch Marner, they usually turn quite dramatically.
Off a failed breakout pass, the Kraken coughed it up in the high slot, Jake McCabe stepped up to grab the puck, and Marner recognized the opportunity, immediately taking off for a breakaway as McCabe ripped him a pass.
Some players might try to float in a saucer pass on the play, but McCabe ripped it crisply along the ice right through the middle and on the tape. There was no doubt Marner was finishing it off as he was feeling it all night. He made a nice forehand-backhand-forehand move and shelved the puck.
8. It was a shaky start to the third period for the Leafs as Seattle, on back-to-back plays, created a wide-open one-timer down low in the Toronto end followed by an Oliver Bjorkstrand shot in the slot.
Things did settle down for the Leafs as Tyler Bertuzzi set up Mitch Marner for yet another chance off the rush followed up by a great fourth-line shift. They won multiple battles and hemmed in the Kraken for a minute while Bobby McMann and Noah Gregor threw pucks on net and kept retrieving them. At the end of the shift, the fans gave them a nice ovation. As always, Toronto fans recognize hard work. It was nice to see.
Unfortunately, a few minutes later, they were on for a goal against stemming from what looked to be an innocent play. After a hard pass through the neutral zone, Eli Tolvanen entered along the wall, and Morgan Rielly didn’t gap up tightly as David Kampf was backchecking on the play. Tolvanen cut in and ripped one home.
You’d like Joseph Woll to make himself a bit bigger on this goal, but you’d really like Rielly to close the gap and prevent the attacker from cutting in. Truthfully, it was a rare defensive mistake for Rielly this season, and it happens to the best of them. Suddenly, it was a game.
9. With an undermanned defense, the Leafs seemed to really back off and play conservatively with the 3-2 lead. Their forwards hardly forechecked. They just sat back, giving Seattle the time and space to carry the play. Eventually, the Kraken tied the game.
The goal is partly the natural result of introducing so many new players to the lineup. Simon Benoit had his man, it was a 1v1 with forward support down low, and yet TJ Brodie slid over to block any path to the net. It left a wide-open space for a pass, and with McCann unmarked coming into the zone off a line change, Calle Jarnkrok didn’t check over his shoulder, leaving McCann open. With a huge lane open and the time to shoot, McCann took the pass and ripped one high past Woll.
The Leafs were routinely outworked along the walls in the final 40 minutes. There was nothing fancy from Seattle; they just cycled and wore the Leafs down. As Toronto started to make mistakes, they couldn’t break out cleanly. It started to feel fortunate that this game made it to overtime, especially on a shift at the end where Matthew Knies made a brutal drop pass on a breakout for a turnover then couldn’t break it out with time and space. Jarnkrok replaced Knies on his line afterward and almost scored with around a minute left to win the game.
Alas, another overtime period.
10. Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and Jake McCabe started the overtime, lost the draw, and Seattle possessed the puck for nearly two minutes afterward. There was one notable chance for Yanni Gourde during that sequence, but again, the Kraken dominated the puck and the Leafs couldn’t win a 50/50 battle. The Kraken also missed a 2v1, failing to connect on the pass.
The biggest highlight in overtime was the performance of Joseph Woll, who was again amazing when the Leafs needed him most. In particular, he absolutely robbed Jordan Eberle and the crowd went nuts afterward (rightfully so).
As for the shootout, I’m not writing about it. Leafs win.
Game Flow: 5v5 Shot Attempts
Heat Map: 5v5 Shot Attempts
